THE MAN WHO WORKED SO HARD FOR HIS FAMILY The Man Who Worked So Hard For His family That he barely saw them, Was missed By those who wished He'd be around some more, And when he was Not act so grouchy When he finally got home Only wanting to be left alone, Enjoy his drinks and watch TV And have a little peace and quiet For God's sake Didn't they understand A man was tired after working Twelve hour days And weekends at the office Killing himself To be successful To keep them happy And not complain He wasn't doing enough When vacations and birthdays And at Christmas they got As much or more Than anybody else they knew, He saw to that. What did they want, blood? No. His company Was what they had in mind, But his question Did cause the family to feel guilty For wanting to see him more When they should Have been grateful For seeing him as little as they did. Except the Very Youngest Child Who hadn't learned any better Than to feel disappointed When he broke special promises Because he had to work late again, And feel rejected When he seemed to prefer Time with the job to time with her, And feel angry That she wasn't supposed To feel angry at him For working so much When it was never his fault: His career made him do it. One thing was sure, She told him. She never wanted to work Like he did If this is what it did to people, Which he denied. Was she actually suggesting He was responsible for choosing To work so hard because That was what he wanted? Oh no, She apologized. Nobody who truly loved Their family would want to work So hard at not seeing them. Certainly not, Agreed The Man Relieved his daughter Finally understood. Besides, He was a great provider, And wasn't that enough? MORAL: Ambition is not an altrusitic motivation.